On August 7, 1974, Frenchman Philippe Petit walked
into the sky on a wire connecting the Twin Towers of the newly built
World Trade Center. Watching
the original film of this event, even with its grainy quality, is breathtaking. How
could he do it, with the wind swirling around him and no net to catch
him? Not only does Petit walk across, he sits on the wire, kneels,
walks backward, takes his time, clearly enjoying the moment. It’s
an act of total concentration and belief in oneself. While police
await him on both sides, Petit toys with them, walking back across the
abyss, while spectators watch from below. It’s like something
out of a silent movie with Harold Lloyd or Buster Keaton. Even the arresting
officer calls the feat an act of beauty.

Petit sees his wire walk as a calling, a vocation. He knows that’s
what he has to do with his life. It’s also a work of art,
inspiring awe among spectators. His action is an absurdly daring
act of beauty in the chaotic world of the 70’s. The Twin
Tower walk is the culmination of his career, with previous walks across
the spires of Notre Dame Cathedral and the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Man on Wire, directed by James Marsh, recounts
the story of Petit’s life, from his childhood dream, when he sees a photo in
a magazine in a dentist’s office, to present day, as he reminisces
about the 1974 event. A long sequence entails the few days leading
up to August 7, 1974, carrying his equipment to the top of the Tower
under the nose of a security guard. For the amount of time Marsh
spends with the preparation for August 7, I still did not understand
how he and his accomplices spanned the wires from one building to the
other. I felt like I had missed something here.

Marsh also includes interviews with family members
and colleagues who encourage and work with Petit. Some are more interesting
than others, but, on the whole, the interviews did not help me to understand
Petit and his mission. I began to find them tedious. Perhaps
the point is that, as with all vocations in life, Petit’s call
cannot rationally be explained. He just knew what he wanted to
do in his life.

Despite its weaknesses, when we see Petit walking
through space on a thin wire, knowing this was real and not a special
effect, it does take the breath away. While I watched in amazement, there is not a moment
that I did not think of the horrible events at the same location 27 years
later. Rather than being amazed at a harmless act of absurd beauty,
the world watched in shock at the death and destruction. Without
one scene or reference to 9/11, it’s always there in the background,
impossible to escape. It is this quality of irony that lifts up Man
on Wire beyond that of an account of one man’s death-defying
act.